NIU Football: 'Surreal moment' Surprise scholarship for Abrell

DeKALB – Friday was like any other day early in fall camp for Northern Illinois long snapper Erik Abrell.

But an unexpected announcement Friday morning changed the course of Abrell’s scholastic and playing career. At a morning meeting Friday, the Huskies announced that Abrell, an Aurora Christian graduate, would receive a scholarship.

“I was very surprised by it. It was awesome, surreal moment,” Abrell said. “This and winning the [Mid-American Conference] championship probably, the most surprised moments of my life.”

The news was welcome to family, of course.

“I called my mom and dad. They were very excited. Near tears,” Abrell said.

[NIU Huskie Athletics]

For NIU head coach Thomas Hammock, a continued emphasis on valuing walk-ons has been a consistent talking point. Huskies defensive ends coach Travis Moore, a former teammate of Hammock’s and a two-time all-Mid-American Conference defensive end, originally was a walk-on at NIU.

“Anytime you can give young men a scholarship, I think it increases the morale of your team,” Hammock said. “When you’re talking about walk-ons, that’s a big part of your team and what you’re trying to develop and establish because you want to have great walk-ons that can help you build the depth of your program.”

For Abrell, he said it was like a monkey had been lifted off his back, considering that he has two siblings who are about to attend college and his parents were paying his way through school to pursue his football dream.

“My parents paid for everything, so it was definitely nice because they’ve done so much for me in my life,” Abrell said. “It’s definitely nice to relieve them of some stress for a little while.”

After originally committing to Western Illinois out of high school as a walk-on, Abrell, a former tight end, right tackle and linebacker at Aurora Christian, found himself as a student at Waubonsee Community College before a preferred walk-on spot opened up under for Huskies coach Rod Carey and then-special teams coach Dan Sabock.

“I took it right away because I wanted to play badly,” Abrell said.

The chance to be thrown into the fire last fall was what Abrell wanted. He cherished the chance to soak up knowledge from Hayden Sak, a product of West Aurora and a Huskies’ long snapper from 2015 to ‘18, whom he knew before attending NIU.

[Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com]

“We were very tight. Definitely good friends,” Abrell said. “He mentored me a lot, just showing me how to handle game situations, and if you had a bad snap how to bounce back from that. We still talk from time to time.”

Abrell dropped nearly 30 pounds and experienced a 9% body fat decrease over the past two-plus months by putting in “three-workout days.” He said he’s hopeful that the dropped weight will allow him to cover more down the field on punts.

[Mark Busch - mbusch@shawmedia.com]

“I feel like I’ve been snapping really well lately, definitely better than last year being a freshman, not playing my real freshman year,” Abrell said. “I’ve definitely matured a lot this year.”